Roadworks on the A64 being undertaken by the Highways Agency, which will lead to night time diversion of traffic for periods of time from January until May, get underway on Monday 4th January. A press release has been issued to announce the start of the work – see   http://tinyurl.com/A64-works

The roadworks will start with replacement of the safety barriers on the bridge that runs over the River Ouse at Bishopthorpe. The A64 will be closed in both directions for five nights to install narrow lanes and protective barriers as part of the scheme.  The A64 will then be closed again towards the end of February for three nights to remove the protective barriers.

From the end of March, work will start on replacing the main expansion joint on the eastbound carriageway. This work will be carried out overnight and will require full overnight closure of the eastbound carriageway between 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday. The project is due to be completed in May.

When the night time road closures are in effect, local eastbound traffic will be diverted off the A64 up Tadcaster Road and then onto The Mount, Blossom Street and Nunnery Lane before going over the river and onto Fishergate and then onto the A19 through Fulford before rejoining the A64.

We understand that there will be diversion signs on the A64 at the A1237 junction (northern by pass) indicating that the A64 is closed ahead and the A1237 should be used for through trips, for example traffic heading to Malton and the east coast. This should hopefully remove a proportion of traffic that would otherwise end up being diverted up Tadcaster Road.

We would have liked to have been able to let local residents know about the Tadcaster Road diversion plans via our December FOCUS newsletter, but unfortunately we were not given advance notice of the plans.

So, in summary, our understanding is that the night time diversion of traffic from the A64 will be in effect as follows:

• Monday 4^th to Friday 8^th January inclusive
• At the end of February for three nights
• From the end of March until sometime in May